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 gift of Aaron” or “the rod of nature.” Several commentators recognize this gift as related to Oliver’s use of a divining rod.
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 the New Covenant, Even the Book of Mormon.
Several months ago I received a telephone call from Armand Mauss, who is a member of my Stake. He was calling on official Church business, but I couldn’t help taking the opportunity to pepper him with questions and pick his brain for about an hour. At one point in our discussion, he lamented the proliferation of Mormon blogs where, on any given day, one can find hundreds of people speculating and opining about numerous issues of which they actually know very little, and yet somehow hold unshakably strong and certain conclusions about them.
Thought I’d catch your attention with that line from “Saturday’s Warrior,” the bane (or bastion, if you don’t know what you’re talking about) of Mormon doctrine.* There was an interesting article in NYT about how children can negatively impact marriages. So, what’s the real scoop on these tiny little homewreckers? Read on . . .
The very existence of what is commonly called the “veil” seems to tell us at least two things about what God intended real faith to be:
When you hear the name Oliver Cowdery, you probably think of the story that culminates in the revelation that became Section 9 of the Doctrine & Covenants. This section uses Oliver as a (bad) example of how to seek and receive personal revelation. Today’s guest post is from The Teacher. Come visit The Teacher here.
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?
For years now I’ve heard people offhandedly dismiss the Book of Mormon as a known plagiarism of “the Solomon Spaulding manuscript.” I’ve finally gotten around to researching this oft-cited alternative theory about the true origins of the Book of Mormon, and I was both perplexed and amused by what I found. For rarely does one find an alternative theory advanced to expose the true origins of a controversial work when that alternative theory is almost as fanciful and far-fetched as the “official story” it is meant to debunk. Although there are sure to be many readers who are already...
Much has been said in church magazines and the Bloggernacle about the image of Joseph Smith. Do we know what Joseph Smith really looked like? Are our statues and paintings truly representative of him? This is not the point of my post here, though. I recently had a conversation with my fiancee about Rastafarianism, mentioning that Rastas believe that Jesus Christ was black. I admitted that, though I personally don’t see much evidence for that, I did concede that Jesus probably looked very different than what most Mormons envision.
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...
Recently I saw Religulous here and he touched on Horus here and a few of the parallels between the story of Horus and Jesus. Many Mormons when they start delving and unravelling events in our history also delve into what they can find out about (possible origins)
Mormons are sometimes criticized for their unquestioning obedience to authority. Statements like “When the prophet has spoken, the thinking is done,” and the Primary song “Follow the prophet” come to mind as well as the belief that even if leaders are mistaken, we should follow them. Do Mormons have an unhealthy respect for authority?
There was an interesting article in Time recently about Facebook’s censorship of pics with nips, specifically eliminating pictures of breastfeeding moms (and, in their defense, a few of topless women who just happened to be holding babies). But, this brought up an age-old question of Mormondom: why are there no nipples on the Nephites in the BOM vids?
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
What is good leadership? How did Joseph Smith envision church leadership? How does that differ from the church today and how is it the same? Today’s lesson is from the Joseph Smith manual #24, Leading in the Lord’s Way.
For almost two centuries the Word of Wisdom is solid proven evidence to many members that the Church is true.
Peter Brimelow, a British journalist, is credited with coining the term “War on Christmas” in 1999 to describe the politically correct movement in English-speaking countries to neutralize public references to Christmas out of deference to non-Christians. This term has been popularized, especially by right-winger Bill O’Reilly and folks over 65 who like to forward outraged spam emails about how the world is going to hell in a handbasket. So, who’s winning the War on Christmas?
How do we create and maintain unity at church while valuing diversity and avoiding conformity? Do we have to embrace the diversity of those who value conformity? Do we have to unify with those whose diversity gives us the heebie jeebies?
“We thought that we had the answers. It was the questions we had wrong.” -U2, 11 O’Clock Tick Tock Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the dilemmas God must encounter on an almost daily basis when His children ask Him questions that are based on a host of false assumptions and man-made concepts. I’m sure God wants to answer everyone’s prayers, but what’s a good Father to do when He’s constantly being asked the wrong questions?
